We’ve reported in the past how current NFL players, like , are urging the league to allow players to medicate with cannabis for their aches, pains, and injuries that come along with playing a violent sport like American football. These players observe how more than half of all players, current and former, are prescribed opioids to treat their pain – many developing destructive addictions.
Former Wide Receiver and current NFL analyst Randy Moss is now joining the chorus of players, trainers, coaches and fans who are advocating the removal of cannabis from the NFL’s list of banned substances. While he was still playing, Moss was never shy about his cannabis use, and spoke openly about it.
Moss is a six-time Pro Bowler and one of the most prolific and popular wide receivers in NFL history. Now, Moss will add to his impressive resume as he joins ESPN. He will be an analyst on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown, broadcasting live in the city of each week’s Monday Night Football game.
When speaking with Monday Morning Quarterback’s Kalyn Kahler, Moss talked about his move to ESPN and was asked if the NFL should remove cannabis from its list of banned substances. “The NFL just needs to loosen up the rules and let everybody live,” Moss said.
As the topic of players’ substance use was brought up, Moss spoke about Miami Dolphins’ first-round pick Laremy Tunsil, who suffered a drastic fall on draft day after a video of him smoking through a gas mask bong emerged on his hacked Twitter account. Moss thinks that scouts and teams aren’t correctly judging “character issues” of potential players.
“My definition of character issues is based on if a guy is hurting his teammates. I think when you are caught on camera smoking something or slamming a six-pack of beer, that’s not a character issue. I think if a guy does something that will really hurt others, that’s where you have to draw the line. I don’t know what Tunsil was smoking in the video on social media, but he wasn’t hurting anybody. He was just doing it to himself. So people are calling that a character issue? That’s not a character issue,” Moss told MMQB.
While Eugene Monroe’s cannabis activism is certainly positive, it’s one thing to have an offensive lineman support players treating ailments with cannabis. It’s a bigger thing that a former all star skill position player and current TV analyst is speaking out to mainstream news outlets about the issue.
